Baseball mitt



July 13, 1943.

H. B. LATINA BASEBALL MITT Filed Nov. 15, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOH;

HA HY .LAT/NA l ATTORNEY H. B. LATINA BASEBALL MITT July 13, 1943.

Filed Nov. 15, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheer. 2

[NVEN TOR HABRY T/NA hyfi ATTORNEY y 3, 1943- H. B. LATINA 2,324,219

BASEBALL MITT Filed Nov. 15, 1941 3 Sheet-Sheet 3 INVENTOR;

x' HARRYB. AT'IN ORNEY Patented July 13, 1943 BASEBALL MITT Harry B. Latina, East St. Louis, 151., assignor to Bawlings Manufacturing Company, St. Louis, Mo a corporation of Missouri Application November 15, 1941, Serial No. 419,245

Claims.

This invention relates to baseball mitts, and has for its main object to provide a stream-lined, light weight, evenly balanced mitt, which is of such construction or design that it has a natural tendency to close around a caught ball and effectively trap or retain the ball in the ball pocket of the mitt.

Another object is to provide a baseball mitt, which, in addition to having the desirable characteristics above mentioned, is easy to make, and capable of being manufactured at a low cost.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a perspective view, showing the front side of a baseball mitt embodying my present invention.

Figure 2 is a perspective view, showing the rear side of said mitt.

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the front piece of the mitt shown in Figures 1 and 2.

Figure 4 is a front perspective view, illustrating another form of my invention.

Figure 5 is a top plan View of the front piece of the mitt shown in Figure 4; and

Figure 6 is a top edge view of the mitt shown in Figure 4.

The padded front part of my improved mitt is constructed so as to produce a flexible ball pocket having a back wall or part that conforms approximately to the curvature and slightly overhangs a ball that has entered the pocket of the mitt, and two freely movable side portions that are capable of rocking inwardly and outwardly, towards and away from each other, so as to decrease or increase the size of the ball pocket. In order that the side portions of the pocket will be maintained in angular relationship with the back portion of the pocket, and M11 have a natural tendency to move inwardly towards each other when a ball enters the pocket of the mitt, the back portion of the pocket is joined with or connected to the side portions of the pocket in such a way that the pressure exerted by a caught ball on said back portion tends to cause said side portions to move into clamping engagement with the ball. The above mentioned portions of the ball pocket are made of such size and are so disposed with relation to the hand of the user, that the mitt is evenly balanced and has little or no tendency to turn on the users hand in the operation of catching a ball.

My improved mitt is distinguished principally from the conventional baseball mitt, in that the padded palm section of the mitt is exceedingfinger portion that is hinged or flexibly joined to a ball back stop portion whose upper end projects forwardly and substantially overhangs the ball pocket of the mitt, the said back stop portion constituting the back of the ball pocket, and the said finger portion constituting one side of the ball pocket. The other side of the ball pocket is formed by the padded thumb portion of the mitt, which is disposed at one side of the palm section of the mitt. The mitt can be constructed in various ways so as to produce a flexible or hinged palm section of the kind above referred to. In the particular form of my invention herein illustrated, the piece of leather or other material that constitutes the front side of the palm section of the mitt is provided with a hole or opening, disposed so as to produce a finger portion located at one side of said hole or opening and a back stop portion located at the other side of said opening, both of said portions branching approximately radially from and forming extensions or continuations of the palm portion of the front piece of the mitt. The length and width of said hole or openin may vary, but it is essential that said opening be of suff cient size to produce a hinge action between the back stop portion and the finger portion of the palm section of the mitt, and permit the tip end of the back stop portion to be drawn forwardly and attached to the top end of the finger portion, for the purpose of imparting a substantially concaved form to the ball pocket and holding the back stop portion in a forwardly inclined position with its upper end disposed in substantially overhanging relation with a ball positioned in the ball pocket of the mitt. Obviously, the padding material of the mitt must correspond approximately to the shape or form of .the front piece of the mitt, or at any rate, said padding must be provided with a gap, notch or opening, disposed in alignment with the hole or opening in the front piece that lies between the back stop portion and the finger portion previously referred to. In accordance with standard practice, the front side of the thumb portion of the mitt may be formed by a part of the front piece of the mitt.

In Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings, the reference character A designates the palm section of the mitt and the reference character B designates the thumb portion of the mitt. The palm section is constructed in such a Way that it comprises a finger portion C and a back stop portion D that lies between the thumb and finger portions, said back stop portion constituting the 1y flexible and is constructed so as to form a b k of th ball pocket of th mm; and said thumb and finger portions constituting the sides of the ball pocket. These three portions B, C an D me e into and constitute extensions of the palm portion of the mitt, and the thumb portion and finger portion are constructed so that the thumb and fingers of the users hand will be positioned in said portions B and C, respectively, as shown in broken line in Figure 2. Openings m and y are formed in the front piece of the mitt, between the thumb portion and the back stop portion and between the back stop portion and the finger portion, respectively, so as to impart a Substantially hinge action to the thumb portion and finger portion and make it possible for said portions to rock or move freely relatively to the back stop portion D when the mitt is in use. The size and shape of the portions B, C and D may be varied without departing from the spirit of my invention, but usually said portions will be made of somewhat the same shape and size, so as to insure proper balance of the mitt on the users hand.

Means is provided for connecting or joining the back stop portion D to the two side wall portions B and C of the ball pocket, so as to hold said three portions in such a position that they co-operate with each other to produce a ball pocket having substantially hinged or pivoted side portions that project forwardly and laterally from a back stop member that slightly overhangs a caught ball, and hence, reduces the tendency of the ball to move upwardly out of the ball pocket of the mitt. In the mitt shown in Figures 1 and 2, an adjustable lacing I is attached in any suitable way to the adjacent vertical edge p rtions of the thumb portion B and back stop portion D, so as to bridge the open-ended gap or notch :2 between said parts, and the terminal end of the back stop portion D is attached to the terminal end of the finger portion C by a lacing 2 and a web member 3, said connections or connecting means being so constructed or arranged as to hold the back stop portion D in a forwardly-inclined or forwardly-arched position, and hold the thumb portion B and finger portion C in such a position that they branch forwardly and laterally from the back stop portion. By adjusting the said connecting means, the relative position of the co-acting portions B, C and D can be varied to change the size and/or shape of the ball pocket and to increase or decrease the overhang of the upper end of the back stop portion D.

In constructing the mitt shown in Figures 1 and 2, the front side of the mitt is formed from a piece I of leather or other suitable flexible sheet material cut to the approximate shape or form shown in Figure 3, said piece being provided in its top edge with an open-ended notch :c that constitutes the gap :0, previously referred to, between the thumb portion B and the back stop portion D, and also provided with a hole 1/ located some distance inwardly from its top edge, that constitutes the space or opening y, previously referred to, between the back stop portion D and the finger portion 0. The integral part of the piece I00 that lies between the upper end of the hole y and the top edge of said piece I00, constitutes the web member 3, previously mentioned, that forms a part of the connecting means between the terminal ends of the back stop portion and the finger portion, said integral web member 3 being adapted to be folded or doubled along the broken lines 3 in Figure 3, before inserting the lacing 2 that secures the terminal end or the back stop portion D to the terminal end of the finger portion C. As shown in Figure 3, the web member 3 is provided with a plurality of holes or eyelets IOI, disposed so as to permit the web member 3 to be shortened, lengthened, or otherwise adjusted, to change the relationship between the back stop portion D and the finger portion C.

The rear side of the mitt is formed from a back piece I02, which is cut or shaped so as to produce three radially-branched portions I03, I04 and I05 that constitute the rear sides of the thumb portion B, back stop portion D and finger portion C, previously referred to. The peripheral edge of said back piece I02 is attached to the front piece I00 of the mitt, either by stitches, or by a lacing I06. In the operation of assem bling the parts of the mitt, the web member 3 of the front piece is folded so as to lie between the back piece I02 and front piece I00, as shown clearly in Figure 6, the portion I05 of said back piece being provided at or adjacent its terminal end with holes or eyelets I01 for receiving the lacing 2 which forms part of the connection between the terminal end of the back stop portion 1) and the finger portion C of the mitt.

One advantage or desirable feature of a mitt of the construction above described, is that it is easy to make and it can be manufactured at a low cost, due to the fact that it is composed of two flat pieces of leather or other suitable material with a sheet of padding material H of the proper thickness interposed between the same, the front piece and back piece of the mitt being of such shape that they can be easily fabricated by simple die cutting and sewing operations, and after completion, can be easily connected together to form the shell of the mitt. In accordance with conventional practice, the mitt is provided with a lining that prevents the users hand from coming in direct contact with the padding material of the mitt, which padding material preferably corresponds approximately in shape and general outline to the back piece I02 of the mitt. While I prefer to make the web member 3 an integral portion of the front piece I of the mitt, said web member could be formed from a separate piece of material, secured by stitches, or in any other suitable way to the front piece I00 of the mitt. Similarly, the portions of the front piece of the mitt that constitute the front sides of the thumb portion, the finger portion and the back stop portion, may be formed from separate pieces of material secured by stitches, or in any other suitable way, to that part of the front piece of the mitt which constitutes the palm portion of th mitt.

Figures 4 and 5 illustrate another form of my invention, wherein the space or opening between the thumb portion and back stop portion is formed by a hole m in the front piece I00 of the mitt, located some distance inwardly from the peripheral edge of said front piece. The web member 30 at the top edge of the hole m is used in conjunction with a lacing 20 to attach or connect th terminal part of the thumb portion B to the terminal part of the back stop portion D, said web member 30 being adapted to be doubled or folded, as shown in Figure 6, and then secured in its folded condition by the lacing 20, thereby shortening the length of the web member 30 sufficiently to maintain the thumb portion B in proper relationship with the back stop portion D and assist in moving said thumb portion inwardly towards the finger portion C, when the force or pressure of a caught ball is exerted on the back stop portion of the ball pocket,

Having thus described my invention, What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A baseball mitt having a padded front part that comprises a palm section and a thumb portion that has a substantially hinge action with said palm section, said palm section being provided at a point some distance inwardly from its outer edge with an opening that is located between a portion of said section that is adapted to receive all the fingers of the users hand and aportion of said section that constitutes the back stop of the ball pocket of the mitt, and means whereby the force or pressure exerted by a caught ball on the back stop portion of the palm section, tends to draw said thumb portion and finger portion into snug engagement with the ball.

2. A baseball mitt of the kind described in claim 1, in which said means comprises a web member on the front piece of the mitt, and an adjustable lacing combined with said web memher.

3. A baseball mitt composed of a front piece, a back piece and a piece of padding interposed between said front piec and back piece, said front piece and padding piece having two openings located some distance inwardly from their peripheral edges, one of said openings being disposed between a back-stop portion and a portion that is adapted to receive the users fingers and said other opening being disposed between said back-stop portion and a thumb portion, and web members on the front piece of the mitt that join the terminal end of said back-stop portion to said thumb portion and also to said finger portion.

4. A baseball mitt having a palm section provided at a point some distance inwardly from its outer edge with an opening located between a portion of said section that is adapted to receive the users fingers and a portion of said section that constitutes the back wall of the ball pocket of the mitt, and a folded web member attached to the terminal ends of said two portions and located at the outer end of the previously mentioned opening in said palm section.

5. A baseball mitt of the kind described in claim l, provided with a lacing inserted in holes in said web member so as to retain it in a folded condition.

HARRY B. LATINA. 

